<p>It’s quite normal for top graduates from a non-top tier school to fear that they might not be able to measure up against top graduates fro a top tier school. So I think your fear is at least somewhat justified.</p>
<p>anewtypedude wrote:“It’s quite normal for top graduates from a non-top tier school to fear that they might not be able to measure up against top graduates fro a top tier school. So I think your fear is at least somewhat justified”</p>
<p>But is it justifiable from a performance point of view? If you know what I mean.</p>
<p>Hey ovaldia - I’m in exactly the same boat you are. I got good grades at my non-Ivy, small LAC, and I got into Berkeley… however, I’m worried that the standards will be different there, and I’m scared! Even though I want to go to Berkeley for the research, I wonder if I might be more “comfortable” at a lower-tier school. </p>
<p>Basically, my diagnosis for both of us is “Impostor Syndrome.” (Look it up! You’ll relate!) The fact is, you are good, or you would not have gotten into Berkeley. Very few grad students flunk out of Berkeley, and I’m betting you are motivated enough that you will study your ass off for quals and make sure you get through.</p>
<p>Anyway, I’m sure a lot of people that settle on Berkeley feel this way. We can keep each other company in our insecurity! (BTW, which weekend did you visit?)</p>
<p>Yes, those Ivy graduates will eat your brain for breakfast! They will raise the curve so high that even if you score a 99 out of 100 on an exam, you will still fail! They all scored 1600 on the GRE, are all co-authors of Nobel laureates, all published at least 10 articles on peer-reviewed journals as undergrads, are all Rhodes scholars, and of course, none of them ever used a calculator–they are so smart that they can do ANY calculation with just their fingers.</p>
<p>Is that what you want to hear? ;)</p>
<p>buffkitten - I when the first weekend. Which other porgrams did you considered?</p>
<p>A friend of mine graduated from OSU with a 4.0, and I went to South western OSU for an year. I agree classes there are just too easy but still a 4.0 is not easy.Just believe in yourself and dont worry no matter how hard the classes are you will get used to them and do well at the same time, you just might have to work harder here. I went through the same thing.</p>